5 May 2023

“My search is increasingly urgent as more people become strangers to one another, isolated in anonymous cities by their specialisation, their education and their private obsessions, ever hungry to be better understood, appreciated, loved and encouraged. The world cannot be changed by laws and force, the world can be changed by mentalities and intimate personal relationships”

Theodore Zeldin

We are honoured to team up with Theodore Zeldin, the renowned Oxford University philosopher, historian and author & the Oxford Muse to present The Feast of Strangers at Tieteentekijäpäivä, organized by The Finnish Union of University Researchers and Teachers (FUURT).

Direction of behalf of MiklagårdArts: Ceyda Berk-Söderblom

The Muse Conversations bring total strangers or mere acquaintances together, in pairs, for a conversation that transcends small talk. Both are given a Menu of Conversation with specific questions that guide and structure their discussion. By working through a menu of different questions, they will both reflect on the details of their lives, speculate on their personal experiences and gain a deeper understanding of one another. The encounter will be captivating and memorable; it will change their world, even if just for a short while.

in collaboration with

FUURT

Tieteentekijäpäivä, Helsinki

📷 Petri Summanen

Theodore Zeldin, Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE), is an Oxford University historian and philosopher. He has been a pioneer in revealing how relationships; and emotions such as love, fear, loneliness, friendship and ambition; have evolved in different civilisations over the centuries; and most importantly, how they can be changed again today through a new kind of conversation that builds trust between strangers, new ways of working that avoid boredom, and new attitudes towards rebellious youth and forsaken old age. He has been an adviser to the President of France, was made a Commandeur de la Légion d’Honneur and awarded The Wolfson Prize.

Over the last 30 years, Theodore Zeldin has been experimenting and developing a new form of conversing that enables people to exchange their experiences and aspirations in order to improve mutual understanding and trust. In twenty countries worldwide, more than 12,000 participants from the Olympics, and The World Economic Forum; to schools and homeless shelters, have taken part in Muse Conversations.